Weather affecting Stout sports

There is nothing worse than the feeling you get when you are ready to play a game outside and you see dark clouds starting to form. Suddenly it starts to rain, and, inevitably, the game is cancelled. The weather here at University of Wisconsin–Stout has been unpredictable to say the least.

Spring sports always seem to have the most trouble with the weather, especially in the midwest. Spring showers are the biggest culprit for this, but a snowfall or two in the middle of April is not unheard of in Wisconsin. So far this spring, the UW–Stout Baseball team had their doubleheader against Macalester College postponed without a makeup date, and the women’s golf team had the first round of play suspended at a recent tournament after storms rolled in.

Anthony Johnson, part of the UW–Stout men’s golf team, had this to say about playing in bad weather: “I personally don’t mind playing the rain as much as other guys. When you’re playing golf, everyone is playing in the same conditions. I think our team does well about being mentally tough and fighting through.”

When talking about rain outs, Johnson says that rain outs for golf are not as common as you might think, “It usually takes a lot for golf to get rained out.” He went on to talk about how when the weather does get bad, he and his teammates stay focused by talking about the round. “It’s important to stay loose in between this time, because when it stops we have to go right back out and play.”

Lastly, when asked if he had any interesting stories about a specific rain out, he talked about a tournament in Iowa last year, saying, “[One of my teammates] slept for 16 hours that day while we were all in the same room being loud while watching the masters. I don’t think a gunshot would’ve woken him up.”

Weather affects a lot of different outdoor sports. Baseball and softball games have both been affected by the weather, but with spring finally getting started, hopefully the weather will be on Stout’s side for the rest of the season.